He hoped, however, as the war begins, people would rally behind the war due to the "our boys" factor.

The invasion of Iraq was started with the avowed aim of "liberating the Iraqi people from Saddam Hussain". It was said that once the "liberation" invasion begins, the Iraqis will rise up against Saddam Hussain and welcome the "liberators". But, as is often the case with propagandists, they deceived themselves.

The "our boys" factor did increase support for the war in Britain and the US, but the hopes of the Iraqis welcoming the "liberators" have failed to materialize. The Iraqis are fighting the invaders to the last drop of blood, and those Iraqis, who had left Iraq in the past because they opposed Saddam Hussain, are returning to Iraq in their thousands to fight the invaders under the leadership of Saddam Hussain.

Having stood up to the Americans, Saddam Hussain has become a hero of all those who see the US as an aggressive belligerent superpower seeking to rule the world by military force. And the number of such people who see the US in that way is growing.

Now that the hopes of an easy victory have faded away, and the choices are a prolonged conflict leading to nowhere, or a massive bloodbath in Baghdad followed by an endless partisan war, some are saying that the war should be stopped, while others are saying that it cannot be stopped, once it has started.

One such argument for impossibility of stopping the war was advanced by Mo Mowlam, a British politician.

Her argument is:

"This [stopping the war] of course [sic!] is unrealistic. For Bush and Blair it would be political suicide, their humiliation almost absolute. It would also be a terrible national humiliation, far beyond our leaders, with all the implications for future foreign and trade relations around the world."

Like all politicians, Mo Mowlam's main concern is saving "political skins" from embarrassment and humiliation. She equates personalities of politicians with people and countries, and the personal careers of politicians with "national interests".

Mo Mowlam suggests, that the mass bombings of Baghdad should be continued to save Bush and Blair from embarrassment and humiliation. To Mo Mowlam, razing of Baghdad and deaths of thousands of Iraqis and British and American servicemen is a price worth paying to save Bush and Blair from embarrassment.

But it is possible to stop the war without humiliating George Bush and Tony Blair.

Children are taught at school that if they do something wrong they should:

stop doing it,

admit their wrong-doing,

put right whatever can be put right,

and promise never to do such things again.

This is not humiliation, but rules of good behaviour. Do not these rules apply to those in government?
Do those in government need always to justify their crimes by false arguments, or to cover them up?

So, if Bush and Blair:

declare the war over,

order the troops to be withdrawn,

make good whatever damage they have caused to the Iraqi people,

promise never to do such things again,

and proceed to resolve the other so-called "conflicts" on the basis of justice,

then what will there be for them to be ashamed of or embarrassed about?

Would not such act make them the most admired leaders of Mankind not only of our times, but for millennia to come?